GAZA – Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’s Fatah faction will limit its anniversary celebrations in Hamas-run Gaza to candles and fireworks this week for fear a rally — banned by the Islamist group — will spark violence.

DAMASCUS – A score of young Iraqi women in tight, shimmering gowns shuffle across the nightclub dance floor under the hungry eyes of Gulf Arabs at nearby tables.

ANKARA – Turkish police have foiled a plot to murder a priest, in a case that recalls other attacks this year against Christians in Muslim but secular Turkey, newspapers reported on Monday.